The 9th living Sacrifice: Passion
by Vaign
Summary: Having been raised and trained by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the boy, Uzumaki Naruto, has finally graduated from the academy. However before team assignments could be performed him, along with Yamanaka Ino, were selected to undergo training from the one and only Tsunade of the Sannin in a play by Sarutobi to get his student out of her depression. Full summary inside
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Having been raised and trained by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the boy, Uzumaki Naruto, has finally graduated from the academy. However before team assignments could be performed him, along with Yamanaka Ino, were selected to undergo training from the one and only Tsunade of the Sannin in a play by Sarutobi to get his student out of her depression. Now strapped with the Bossiest girl in the academy, a sweat young woman with a pig companion, and the angriest legendary sucker of a drunk, Uzumaki Naruto has only one question, "What the hell Jijii!?"

Chapter One: Enter Team Legendary

The air was a cooling treat, Naruto decided, as the mid summer's heat bore down upon him from his spot on the roof of Wolf Stop Inn and Suits. The blue skies were welcoming with light pillow like clouds slowly drifting by. It was hard for the twelve year old to think of anything short of simply relaxing if not for his above average desire to make Sarutobi, The third Hokage, proud of him.

He was garbed in a pair of orange and black running shoes, a pair of tan sweat pants, and a black t-shirt with a metal plate over his heart. On the plate was inscribed the Konoha Symbol in place of having a head band. In his hands was a small rust orange ipod, something Tsunade had given him to help him with his studies, with matching fox tipped headphones.

Taking a deep breath the five foot four inches tall boy gave a mighty stretch before closing his sapphire blue eyes. A moment later seventeen consecutive funnels of smoke popped into existence to reveal the boy's shadow clones, "Ok, Baa-chan said that we will never be able to use medical Ninjutsu. That's not good; however, she did say that we could try mastering our Chakra Element as well as Shape Manipulation."

The clones nodded as they patiently waited for him to continue, "This is something Jijii had started us off on three years ago. Beings as we have already mastered the wind element, I want us to start learning one of the others. The floor is now open for suggestions."

At that the first of seventeen clones stepped forward, "I would like put forward Earth control due to its defensive capacity. If we can master the raw element then preexisting techniques would be easy to master at worst."

The clone took a breath before smiling, "I also think this is the right choice in response to our wind nature due to the fact that wind is considered the Ultimate offensive element."

The other clones nodded in agreement before another stepped forward, "Perhaps we should follow the example of the Raikage and master the lightning element," it held up a hand to stop several of the other clones from interrupting him, "I say this because it will be the hardest for us to master beings as it is winds counterpart. However the pure offensive capacity of combining wind with lightning is like fire to toad oil."

A few of the clones shook their head in agreement while some, with slightly wide blue eyes, were simply dumbfounded by the possibility. Seeing that no more were going to offer a suggestion the blonde nodded, "Right, those are both extremely invaluable choices, now to put it to a vote. All in favor of earth being out element say ay, those in favor of lightning please say nay."

Counting the ay and nays that sounded off he found himself surprised to find that earth manipulation had won the day. Beaming a smile at his clones he nodded his head, "Right then, I will begin studying the element of earth and the many ways people have come to master it. Thank you for your time gentleman I will see you all again when we start the physical portion of our training."

With that the clones ceased to exist with a loud pop. Letting out a small yawn he chuckled as he turned to head down stairs.

"There you are brat, didn't I tell you to take the day off?" the sound of his sensei's voice ringing in his ear made him shout as she was only a few inches away from him. If he didn't know better he would have said she was doing things like that on purpose.

Giving a small, scared, chuckle in response to her question he scratched the back of his neck in a bashful attempt to hide how nervous he was around her, "Umm… well you see…"

Tsunade let out a small sigh though the glare of her sharp green eyes continued to pin him to his spot, "well, I guess it doesn't matter now. Did I hear you say you already mastered both shape manipulation and your wind element?"

Laughing sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck the blond took in his sensei's weathered expression as she made her way over to the edge of the building before sitting down. She was dressed in her usual white smocks with her green over coat, the symbol for 'gamble' written on the back, and she had her hair up in pig tails as she normally did. As she patted the spot next to her Naruto let out a sigh of relief before taking a seat as requested.

"Yes, through the use of shadow clones, I mastered shape manipulation at an early age and my wind chakra a year after that. You can say it is what jiji focused on after he found my taijutsu to be top notch for his standards." He wasn't just talking to his sensei, he decided, as she seemed far too relaxed at the moment. No Tsunade looked far too distracted for him to be talking to just his sensei, "Is there something on your mind Baa-chan?"

She had a far off look in her eyes as she glanced down at the alcohol bottle in her hand that gave the boy the distinct impression that she was thinking about some bad memories. He was just about to get up and leave before she threw the bottle over the edge of the building and let out a sigh, "Damn that old man."

It came out as a whisper and sounded, to him, as if it wasn't meant to be heard. He had heard it and so he wondered, _what could the old man have done to make her this way?_ It was more a question of what had happened, and he doubted very much that it was the old man's fault, or anyone's fault for that matter, so he stared at her.

Tsunade's gaze fell on him as if expecting a question and when none came she raised an eyebrow, "What are you looking at brat?"

Naruto, mirroring his sensei, raised an eyebrow of his own, "It is not a matter of what but whom, and I am looking at you. You're obviously upset about something and I am waiting for you to talk to me about it. After all, why else would you have come up here to sit with me?"

Her eye's narrowed for a moment as he gave her a concerned and weary smile, "You were definitely raised by that old monkey that's for sure." She mumbled before standing up, "You said your dream was to be Hokage."

It was a statement, not a question, as she looked out over the small fishing village, "My brother wanted to be Hokage and so did my late fiancé, now there both dead. Think about that." She then turned on her heels and walked back into the building.

_'So that's why she drinks so much.'_ Naruto thought as he turned his attention back to the village, _'I remind her of her brother! Jijii, assigning me to her, was that your plan the whole time?'_

Naruto sat up on the roof the rest of the day pondering that thought. Had his sensei assigned him to his wayward student for the sake of steering up old troubles? Was it his way of telling her it was time to move on? At the end of the day was he as much a lesson to her as the studies she passes on to Ino and himself? His final question rested with his team mate as he wondered if she was to be a reminder of someone Tsunade had once been. _'Damn it Jijii, What the hell did you do this time?'_

These questions haunted the young blonde as he made his way down the stairwell and into the shared suit. He noticed the absence of his sensei and picked up on the sweat scent of honey glazed salmon that was undoubtedly being cooked by the raven haired Shizune. Ino, a twelve year old blonde like himself, was seated at her desk where she continued to poor over the medical scrolls she had been given to study.

As he closed the door with a soft 'click' the girl span in her chair allowing her long ponytail to swish around her lithe frame with a smile. Seeing that it was Naruto however allowed it to drop into a frown, "Where have you been all day baka? Do you know that Tsunade-Sama left to go gamble again? Shizune and I could have used a hand in trying to…"

Raising a hand with a friendly smile the boy chuckled, "I get it, but it takes her mind of things and we're not the easiest of students. Let her have fun."

The girl looked god smacked for all of a few seconds before she scowled at him, "Gambling is not 'fun' Na-ru-to! It's a nasty habit like perverts to their porn!"

"INO!" Shizune squeaked in embarrassment, her cheeks turning a healthy shade of red, "Y-you shouldn't make comments like that, it is not appropriate for a young lady."

Said girl blushed as she nodded, "Sorry Shizune-chan, but I'm right aren't I? Gambling IS a bad addiction!"

Shizune nodded in agreement forcing a sigh from Naruto's lips, "She hasn't gambled more than three times since she took us on as her gennin. That means she has only gambled once a month in the three months that she has been with us making it not a habit but a stress reliever. Am I right Shizune-chan?"

She paused in her cooking before looking back at him. Her skin was a milky, her brown eyes were almost honey colored, and she wore a black kimono with matching sandals, "Um… Well yes, that is also true."

Smiling triumphantly at his blonde counterpart Naruto flashed a raspberry at the girl before walking to his bed in the right hand corner of the room. Pulling his bag from under it he could only smile as Ino huffed and continued to yell at him about what he knew she thought of as 'the issue at hand.'

_'Yeah, I bet she is just the same as Tsunade-sama was in the past…'_

Pulling out the sealed scroll on elemental manipulation he let a content sigh slip passed his lips before leaning back on his bed and opening it up to the earth manipulation section. Feeling the shift of weight on the bed he noted the curious gaze of his team mate as she read over his shoulder, "Elemental Manipulation? Ha! You're not good enough for medical Ninjutsu are you baka?" She teased.

Flashing another raspberry at the girl he took pleasure in the indignant gasp before saying, "It's not that I am not good enough Ino. It is that I am incapable of performing them due to an overwhelmingly large chakra network. This is what I am best suited for."

Her expression relaxed as she gave a curious 'oh?' before turning back to the scroll, "Must be tough. It says that most people don't get passed the first stage of Elemental manipulation."

He nodded, not at all concerned with her being there, before turning his attention back to the scroll, "That's true, and the ones that normally master an element have spent years doing so. I can attest to this because it took me one year to master the wind element with the assistance of my shadow clones."

Ino gave a disbelieving grunt before asking, "How can your clones help you master an element that takes others, what's that say, almost their entire lives to do?"

Naruto gave a knowing chuckle that threatened to spill into full laughter before saying "My shadow clones, the whole one thousand three hundred of them, can pass on knowledge and experience to the caster making them ideal for recon, information gathering, and general training. However they do not pass on anything physical."

He paused to see that even Shizune, who had already finished dinner and was plating them, was paying rapt attention to what he was saying, "This is accomplished by the unique way the clones are created. The user splits his chakra evenly between all of the clones. This allows me to focus on small amounts of chakra and converting it into elemental chakra one thousand three hundred and one times. Essentially they have their own chakra networks and as such the neural pathways that make up the brain are mirrored in the clones. Hence the knowledge transfers ability. I spend eight hours a day practicing with my clones on anything chakra based and so you can imagine the effect this has."

Taking a breath he smiled as he looked into the green eyes of Ino Yamanaka, "To spell out the math, I am spending ten thousand four hundred and eight hours a day learning one thing or another. That is four hundred and thirty three days and roughly seven hours give or take an hour. That's roughly a year and two months in one day of focused training. With that said it took me one year of this method to master the wind element and another two years to master shape manipulation. I estimate a year and a half and I should be able to master earth. That's only because I am practically spending six hundred and forty five years learning this one element through the use of my shadow clones."

Seeing the disbelief and utter shock on his team mate's faces he smiled, "It's that kind of mental aging that keeps me from using it to study book work subjects. That's six hundred and forty five years of chakra memory, could you imagine how crazy I would be if I had used it to study book work? I would be even more batty the Orochimaru of the Sannin."

Ino nodded dumbly, "You already are…" it was barely a whisper but it managed to bubble up a laugh out of the blonde boy and shizune who was now carrying plates of food over to them.

As Shizune handed them there plates and moved to get her own Naruto turned to Ino, "By the way Ino, how has your studies been going for you? After the first aid and anatomy lessons I haven't really thought to ask you."

He gave a week laugh of embarrassment as the girl beamed at him, "I am already learning how to convert my chakra into healing chakra. Shizune says that by the end of tomorrow I should be learning how to use the basic healing technique called the Mystical palm. She tells me that it is the only technique of a medical ninja and is used for analysis, mending bones, and what have you. The problem is the chakra control required to learn the technique. I am fortunate because we have been covering chakra control for the last three months!"

Excited and clearly happy that he had asked she gave a soft laugh before turning back to her meal. _'How interesting that Jiji would send two people so similar to Baa-chan to study under her.'_ Naruto couldn't erase the thought that his jiji had set him up to be some mind doctor, or that he sent a mind doctor in training along with him… _'Damn it! This explains why we get checks at the end of each month!'_

**Authors Note:**

**By god I hate doing math on the fly! If any one does the math and double checks themselves as well let me know if I am right. I used a calculator off my phone and had first come up with two thousand years per one year of study. That was obviously WAY wrong and had to double and triple check the math haha!**

** So! I came up with this idea on the fly as a kind of 'what if' statement towards a Sarutobi raised, chakra focus trained Naruto as well as a sub/main plot idea of Sarutobi using Naruto & Ino to get his student back before the Chunin exams kind of thing. What do you guys think?**


	2. Chapter 2: Search and rescue

Chapter two: Search and Rescue

Two twelve year old blondes, Naruto and Ino, sat side by side at a desk as they pored over the information they desired to learn. For Naruto, who had taken up earth manipulation, it was the studies of how Konoha shinobi came to learn earth manipulation. Ino on the other hand was rereading the specifics of how to use the mystical palm technique to heal a dead fish, said dead fish was sitting on the counter in there small kitchenette, with her chakra.

"Damn it!" the girl said as she placed her head on her hands, "I can't look at this anymore! It's, like, trying to kill me!"

Naruto chuckled as he placed his own scroll back onto the desk, "I think you just need some fresh air and something to eat…"

He paused as she sent a rather potent glare in his direction, _'What the hell did I say?_' he thought as he flashed her his best attempt at a disarming smile, "You know, to take your mind of the problem and get a fresh start when we get back."

'_God she trips harder than Tsunade-baa-chan with no alcohol!'_ He thought as she flipped from frustrated to excited, "OK! Let's go, I know this really cool restaurant that makes awesome sushi! Come on, it's just down the street!"

He let out a sigh of relief as she jumped from her seat to the side of her bed and grabbed her small clutch, a woman's wallet, and glared at him, "Hurry UP Na-ru-to!"

Standing up and stretching as he patted his back side to make sure his own wallet was there. With a nod he followed the excited girl out of the suite wile smiling, "Lead on Ino!"

She squealed in delight as they made their way down the hall, "I was getting so hungry too!" She commented, "Not to mention board out of my MIND!"

'_Yep, I don't like her when she's bored…. She gets to irritable,' _he thought as he nodded in agreement, "That's what I was thinking too. I love training but studies can be tough without a decent distraction every few hours."

"Are you asking me to beat you up every few hours?" Ino asked innocently as they descended the stairs to the main floor, "Because, I will. Mock my words Uzumaki, I'll kick your ass any day!"

Naruto rolled his eyes while chuckling at his fellow blonde, "You, Ino Yamanaka, couldn't touch me, OK!"

He must have sounded pretty cocky because she scoffed before poking him in the arm and heatedly stating, "I-Touched-You!"

Grunting in response he shot her a pointed glare before taking a few steps away from her and saying, "I mean in a fight Ino. I'm just too sly for you."

They both glared at each other, eyes locked in a silent battle that neither one was willing to back down or look away from. A moment later they both started laughing, "You are an idiot Uzumaki Naruto, were team mates, why would I even want to fight you?"

Before Naruto could comment he felt a cold chill run down his spine and was suddenly very aware of the five other people in the entrance room. There were several tables stationed for people to sit at for the nine a.m. breakfast call as well as the front desk that had view of them all.

His eye's barely caught the light gleam of long silver hair before Ino pushed him. She looked as if she was going to give him a full check over with the worried glint in her eyes as she asked, "Are you OK, Naruto?"

That was all it took for the sensation to vanish as he thought, _'Who the hell was that?'_

Scratching the back of his head nervously he could only chuckle as he tried to reassure her by saying, "Sorry Ino. Can we get out of here?"

Before Ino could answer the small bell chimed as the front door opened and Shizune stepped in. Naruto let out a sigh of relief as she hurriedly made her way over to them, "I thought… never mind, Hokage-Samma has sent us a Mission. Head up to the room, change into mission gear, and pack up because we leave in an hour. I am going to get Tsunade –Samma."

'_What mission? Wait, OUR FIRST MISSION!_' The blonde thought as he grabbed Ino by the hand and ran up the steps they had just come down from. Bounding their way back into their suite Ino grabbed her bag and ran for the bathroom to change, _'She must be as excited as I am!'_

Grabbing his own bag Naruto made quick work of changing into black anbu styled pants, his black combat boots, and his black turtle neck under armor before sliding on his equally black gloves and vest. Strapping his Kunai holster to his left leg and shiruken holster to his right leg he then slipped on the half mask and tucked it in under his turtle neck.

Pleased with his speed he was about to start packing up his day to day cloths and training materials when Ino stepped out of the bathroom. They looked identical with the exception of their hair styles. While hers was long and pulled back into a single ponytail his was cropped short and wild.

"What?" She asked he felt the warmth rising in his cheeks, _'I'm glad they made us get these masks! I guess they're not as stupid as I initially thought.'_ He shook his head to clear his mind.

"It's nothing. Let's hurry and get everything cleaned up." He said as they both got to work. Tsunade and Shizune both walked into the suite to find it spotless as the two blonds finished sealing all four bags into their individual scrolls before they hander there sensei's their sensei's their own.

"Good work you two. The old Monkey says a team consisting of a Jounin and three gennin were dispatched on a standard C-rank escort Mission to the land of waves. This Mission was bumped up to A-rank due to the appearance and apparent confrontation with the known associates of Zabuza, an ex Kiri shinobi."

She took a breath as she slid her scroll into her blouse, "They haven't heard back from team seven, consisting of Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke, as well as Haruno Sakura of team ten, and Sai of team eleven, for over a week and are presumed MIA. This is prioritized as a search and rescue mission."

"Right! We better get going then!" Naruto said with a nod of his head. He could feel the urgency rising up in his chest as the excitement and worry over the missing team bubbled up in the pit of his stomach.

As a group they jumped out the large bay window to avoid yet another lodging bill with the village. _'I wonder if she will ever actually pay a bill?'_ Naruto thought absentmindedly as they raced across the roof tops in the direction of wave country.

The team of four ran fifteen miles in just over forty five minutes before they came to the small port side village that would take them across to wave. There was a fine mist a quarter of a mile out from the shore line that Naruto assumed would limit their visual capacity by at least sixty percent but what really caught his attention was the lack of a boat on the docks.

Sparing a glance at his sensei he felt the frown form on his face as she growled. Her gaze would flicker left to right and he could see the frustration just barely contained by her clenching and unclenching fists and the tension in her shoulders.

"Maybe we can run across the water, if I remember right its only two miles between us and waves shore line." He said in an attempt to ease her clearly shot nerves, _'Why is this mission so damn important to her?'_

Tsunade's wrathful gaze fell on him sending a sharp jolt up the middle of his back. The fear was almost overwhelming if not for the many times he had pissed Asuma Sarutobi off. Feeling his frown deepen he took a step towards her and said, "It's plausible."

Her gaze shifted from the boy to Ino for a long moment. Ino was rooted to the spot, her eyes were wide, and she looked ready to turn tail and run for the older woman. Naruto had to wonder if the girl had ever been in a situation where killing intent was present. The next moment Tsunade turned her attention back onto Naruto. As there eye's locked she called out to Ino, "Ino! Do you think you can handle a run like that?"

Ino was still in shock from the killing intent that she had been leveled with only a few seconds ago. Naruto could see it and he damn well knew his sensei knew it as well. _'What the hell is she trying to do? Is she still teaching us even now? God I hope so.'_ The boy thought as he made his way over to the blond girl.

"I'll carry her Tsunade-Samma." He said whilst he crouched down to allow her to climb on. His mind fell back onto his concerns for the other team as a sudden question cropped up in his mind, _'when was the last time sensei went on a mission? Is that what the problem is?' _Deciding to test his theory he made to ease everyone's nerves as he said, "We'll find'em in once peace I'm sure of it."

Tsunade's Eyes widened as Naruto thought, _'So I'm right then. And what If I'm right about jiji's overall goal? How many more of these SnR missions he will send us on?' _

"Let's hope so." She whispered as some of the steel found its way back into her eyes, "Move out!"

Naruto, with Ino on his back, was the first one on the water as he surged forward. He was pushing his legs as hard as he could and easily felt the strain of the fifteen mile run beforehand catching up to him, "Thank you Naruto. She's scary as hell when she's upset."

He almost didn't hear her with the sharp whistling of the wind, but he did, and so he smiled, "Don't mention it, that run was harsh."

The thick mist that covered the last mile was torcher for the blond as he tried to spot the mass of land they were supposed to be on soon. His initial assessment had been correct as seeing anything further then four feet in front of them was hard to do. With each step he hoped they would find the land mass as his legs were almost jello.

The faint sound of Shizune panting gave way to a rather sobering thought, '_this was not my brightest Idea.'_

The next moment had him stumbling over the sudden resistance of the pale grey sand under his feet. His eyes could only widen a fraction as he shrugged the blond girl off of him and he tumbled across the sandy floor, "owch, that sucked!"

"Are you OK, Naruto?" Ino was chuckling as she walked over and held out her hand to him. It was in the fine mist that he almost couldn't make out the amused expression on her face and so he smiled up at her and took her hand.

Taking deep slow breaths to let his muscles breath he stretched himself out as best as he could before turning to see if Shizune and Tsunade-baa were OK as well. The visibility had cleared up a great deal, he realized, now that they were on the island he had to wonder if there was something special about the mist that surrounded the land mass.

Tsunade was the first one to fully recover as she made her way to him and ran her glowing green hands over the his aching body. The sudden spreading of warmth and subsequent relaxing of his tense muscles made him sigh in relief before smiling at the blond woman, "Thank you Tsunade-baa-chan."

She didn't say anything however. Her shoulders were slumped and her green eyes were shadowed by the bangs of her hair. It was, in his opinion, the appearance of inner turmoil and he could only hope she was winning that war. As she healed Ino she suddenly turned a sharp gaze to Naruto, "Keep close, the contact Information says their VIP lives another mile to the north of here."

Without hesitation He followed his sensei and team mates as they rushed their way through the trees. They were meet with little difficulties from their surroundings until the small two story house came into view. Almost stumbling, Naruto had to wonder if Hatake had trained any of these people, as he spotted the silhouette of a person his age trying to hide in one of the tree's at the edge of the house.

"Hal…"

The raven haired boy didn't get to finish his sentence as a pebble crashed into his forehead and he fell. _'Shit! She knocked him out!'_ Naruto thought as he placed both hands behind him and focused a swirl of wind chakra to propel him faster.

With a quick flip he managed to catch the boy before sticking to the wall of the house, "What the hell baa-chan! You KNOCKED him OUT!" he barked at her.

He barely noticed the stone heading for him in time to tilt his head, however, the wall behind him crumbled from that impact as he fell to the ground. _'SHIT!'_

Landing in a crouch he spared the wall a glance before turning back to the woman with wide eyes, _'Did she use that kind of force on him?'_

"Keep quit and get inside." After seeing what she did to the wall he wasn't going to argue. Ino spared him a worried glance and mouthed 'what the fuck.' Following the girls and pig to the front porch he couldn't be any less surprised to watch his sensei barge into the house and shout, "Konoha shinobi, REPORT!"

The effects were instantaneous as a pink haired girl and another raven haired boy, both with Konoha Head Insignia's, scrambled to their feet. _'Why hadn't they been investigating the noises?'_

"I'm Sakura Haruno," The Pink haired girl started, "of team…."

"I know who you two are. I SAID Report." Tsunade growled her fists clenching wildly once more as she scanned the people in the room with a harsh glare. Naruto was not willing to say anything as he silently moved to the couch beside him and set the boy in his arms onto it. With a quick wave Ino was by his side before she ran through hand seals.

Holding her hand above the other boy's head she let out a breath she hadn't seemed to notice she was holding, "Well?" Naruto whispered only to sigh in relief as the boy's onyx black eye's fluttered open. The blonde boy barely noticed Ino smile before he turned his attention back onto what was going on behind them.

"… sensei is upstairs. He's been out for a week now and we have been trying to get him to wake up but…" Tsunade waved her hand to quite the girl. Her pail features were a harsh contrast to her normal light tan complexion, and her normally vibrant green eyes were dulled by whatever it was she had witnessed.

'Is she suffering from _post-traumatic stress syndrome?' _Naruto questioned himself as he took in the way she seemed to want to drop to the floor at the first sign of combat. Sasuke mirrored his temporary team mate in appearance with the way his eye's jumped from one person in the room to his downed team mate.

"Shizune and Ino, go get Kakashi up. I want a full report on what has happened here." Tsunade commanded as the woman's attention was drawn upon the old man in the corner. Naruto could only assume she was staring at the jug in his hand as the man himself glanced from it, to her, and let out a loud sigh, "Would you like something to drink um…"

It was Sakura who answered as a small amount of her usual attentive and peppy spirit rose up, "Tsunade of the Sannin, otherwise known as the Slug Princess." She looked very pleased for having recognized the woman as she took a seat at the table.

The man's eye's widened before a wide grin spread across his face and he made his way into the kitchen while shouting, "Let me get you a bottle of your own Tsunade-Samma!"

Eyeing his sensei Naruto noticed the way her shoulders slumped as she closed the door behind her. As she took a seat at the small table in front of the door he had to wonder, once more this day, what had happened to make her like this? She had focused most of her attention on the table in front of her as she called out an apology for the hole in the wall upstairs. _'It's probably a habit.'_ The blond thought as she suddenly began inspecting the two gennin sitting at the table with her. After a moment's pause she then turned her weary gaze unto him as he kneeled down at the table next to her, "This could have been a lot worse than just a downed Jounin. Do you understand that Naruto?"

The boy's mind pulled upon that sentence as the memory of his only attempt at using the shadow clones for studying purposes, his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the table, "I do Tsunade-Samma that comes with the choices we have all made to become shinobi of our village. We fight for our village and sometimes, even though it seems unfair, we die for our village."

Her eye's narrowed and her lips tightened into a deep scowl. There was a slight gleem of light that suggested the was likely to cry as well before she schooled her expression and nodded at him, "As long as you are aware of the sacrifices we make…"

The statement, a wounded one at that, was enough to confirm for him that she had lost someone precious at this age. Pushing the thought aside though he focused on a more important one, "How come you didn't go and resuscitate Hatake-san, Sensei?"

It was an honest question mirrored by the plain curiosity that reflected in his eyes. It must have looked very disarming for Tsunade as she turned to growl only to lose whatever words she had. A moment later she sighed, bowing her head in shame, "… I am afraid of blood."

Another whisper, just barely loud enough for him to hear from right beside her but it was enough to make his eyes widen before nodding as the old man came out with two shot glasses and the two bottles of Sake.

Getting to his feet he moved to the old man and kindly took the bottle from him, "Have a seat jiji, I will pour your drinks."

The man looked surprised for all of a minute before he smiled and did as he was told. '_People must not show much for manors to the elderly around here…_' He thought as he set a shot glass before the two elders, despite the young appearance of his sensei, and poured the first two shots.

Before the old man could lift his glass Tsunade held her hand over his glass surprising the occupants of the room, "Would you get a third glass for my student please."

'_I really hate how dead to the world she sounds right now.'_ It was starting to piss him off with how depressed she was but at least she was showing an interest in teaching them. Thinking about it, as the old man stood to go get another glass, the blond had to marvel at how easily she had taken to them and at how quickly she had started them on their training.

As the old man came back out Naruto watched as he took his spot and set the third glass where he had been sitting. Taking his seat he quietly pored himself a glass before setting the bottle between the three of them.

"Um… Tsunade-Samma… Is he o-old enough to drink?" the pink haired girl sounded intimidated to the blond as he thought, _'you should be.'_ He had known both of the twelve year olds sitting at the table from there academy day's and it wasn't hard to remember how they both acted like buffoons. Sasuke, clinically depressed and a border line flight risk, was easily the class bully while Sakura, and a lot of the girls in class (Including Ino), followed his example like it was a prideful thing to bully the other students.

"If he's old enough to die then he's old enough to drink." Tsunade answered as she held up her shot glass. Following suit the blond couldn't help but remember the hundreds of reports he and his clones had read that night so long ago. There were so many records of how gennin had died and the mistakes that there teams had made. The blonde had no arguments in studying things himself after that because those records were burned into his memories forever.

"aye!" The blonde cheered sullenly before pulling his mask down; he then slammed the throat searing alcohol back and swallowed hard. If not for his pride he would have scrunched up his face and probably coughed. Instead he took a slow breath and made himself enjoy the burn, "that hurt."

Tsunade chuckled, and if his eyes were as accurate as he believed them to be, she even cracked a small amused smile. It was gone the next moment as he smiled up at her and poured another glass for the three of them.

"Well, my name is Tazuna and I am the bridge builder they were hired to protect." The third member of their little drinking party spoke up with a nervous chuckle. _'He must think he is interrupting some tender moment between student and sensei.'_ The thought amused the blonde as he realized that it was, in some way, a tender moment between them.

"According to the Hokage you lied on a mission request form that put the lives of our villages gennin in danger as well as brought serious bodily harm to their Jounin. Tazuna, I would crush you myself if you ever let something like this happen again. Konoha, while not my favorite place in the world, will always work with a customer to insure future transactions. Do I make myself clear?"

The man was wide eyed as he shook his head. He too was intimidated by his sensei, _'man, what a world we live in…'_ his eye's cut to his sensei as smile morphed into a smirk and he raised his shot glass, "to making your sensei smile, even when they don't want to!" he cheered as he glanced at his sensei. She glared, but he had made her smile, and even after they drank it was still there, if not faintly.

**Authors Note:**

**There will be questions as to why Naruto is the way I am portraying him to be (I am righting my notes in advance) to answer this I would like you to consider the first part of my summery in chapter one. Raised and trained by Sarutobi Hiruzen. The difference is glaring because in cannon he was left to fend, mostly, for himself with very little guidance from anyone until he was in the academy. By this point he would be locked into his mindset that he could only rely on himself and everyone else's opinions were unimportant. However with Sarutobi raising him he had the guidance and instruction to become something far more. I will be incorporating flash backs in later chapters to his younger days to further explain this, and I hope you will be patient with me until then.**

**Furthermore, I realize that my grammar is not top notch and I hope that you will overlook this glaring weakness as I have come a long way from when I had first started writing. **

**Finally, I chose to use the wave arch as a staging point to guide the direction of this story as well as to show case a bit of team Tsunade's talents. As you have already seen Ino is a quick learner having been able to resuscitate Sai with what you can assume is one of her first attempts at the mystical palm technique. I haven't done much with Shizune and ton ton just yet and that's because she was a fairly well balanced and set in her way's character from any stand point. Do not fret though because I will be working with them as well in later chapters.**

**Thank you and please review! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3: Preparation for Battle

Chapter three: Preparations for battle.

Naruto let out a sigh as he took a step out onto the front porch of Tazuna's family home. For the first time since they had arrived he had finally had the chance to take in the scenery. The house, white walled and made of wood, was two stories tall with a balcony on the east wall facing the lake and surrounded on three sides by the forest of willow trees. The west wall, now sporting a fairly decent sized hole, let him see into Kakashi's bedroom. Stepping off of the porch and lazilly walking towards the lake he could see the small dock with a six man oar boat tied off.

The blondes sapphire eyes widen a fraction as he realized, _'we can extract kakashi and his team with this and escort them back to Konoha with out any trouble...'_

thinking about it a small curse slipped passed his lips as he turned around to head back into the house,_ 'There is only room for six which means two of us have to stay. If Tsunade and I were to stay we could handle the rest of Kakashi's mission as well meaning the continued contracts with wave country in the future.'_

Taking a deep breath several mission reports of similar sittuations flashed in his mind reminding him just how easy it was to die in these kinds of situations. With a soft and annoyed chuckle he climbed the stepps to the porch and walked back into the house.

Tsunade and a bandaged Kakashi were sitting across from each other at the shin high rectangular table that took up most of the living room. Moving around to sit across from the door he didn't say a word as the other two people in the room followed his every step. _'So this is what it feels like to have two powerful shinobi watch you like this...'_

_As_ he sat down he gazed over at the wounded jounin. The night before he had given them a full summary of what had transpired with the exception of Zabuza's skills. He also wished he could have meet Tazuna's daughter and grand son with the way the old drunk talked them up.

Tsunade must have found her self bored with the silence that had fallen between them as she turned her attention back to the silver haired jounin, "Sarutobi-sensei requested a search and rescue, but he also wanted us to finish this mission for your team."

It was early morning and with the other gennin asleep the two vetrans must have felt comfortable with talking about what needed to be done. Absentmindedly Naruto wondered just how upset Ino would be with him for not having woken her up for this... _'She will live.'_

Looking over to the one eyed ninja known as Kakashi he couldn't help but wonder how the man had sustained the serious wounds he had only the night before. He had his headband over his left eye wile his gravity defying silver hair protruded around it. Like himself the man also wore a half mask that concealed the rest of his face but his chest was bare with the exception of the red and white bandages that had been wrapped around his body, not to mention he wore the anbu styled pants. Thinking about it Naruto had to wounder if there gear had been modeled after this man.

"In that case you should know that Zabuza is not dead. His associate had used senbon needles to place him in a fake death stasis and carried him off. If I hadn't been as wounded as I was I would have finished the job." He sounded bored and peppy with his explanation that gave the blonde a sense of how guarded the older male was.

"What can you tell us about Zabuza's fighting style?" Tsunade asked as she glanced at over at Naruto, _'Why the hell is she looking at me like that?'_ He thought as a chill ran down his spine, _'I seriously hope she... she is isn't she... Fuck!'_

The thought came as a subtle jolt as he realized she was a combat medic and, while still a Sannin, hadn't seen combat in years. _'I should have expected that.'_

Holding up a hand to interject the other two people turned their attention unto him as he steeled his nerves, _'never really thought talking would be nerve wrecking like this,' _Taking a breath he said, "There is a six man boat outside that could take Shizune, Ino, and Kakashi's team to the main land. You and I can handle the rest of this mission and catch up the same way we got here."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow before voicing her own question, "Do you realize what you're saying brat? You're talking about taking on an elite Jounin with only you and I to fight them."

'_Not to mention your fear of blood…'_ He thought as he shook his head, "Don't play dumb sensei; you have already implied it."

She frowned at him before turning back to Kakashi, "Give us all the details about Zabuza and his associate…" She paused as she glanced over at the blonde once more, "Then when everyone has been feed and packed for the trip you will be taking the boat to the main land."

Naruto noted the widening of Kakashi's eyes but he nodded a moment later, "As you wish Tsunade-hime, but can I request…"

Tsunade slammed her fist into the table as she glared at the man, "There are no requests here Hatake! You should have abandoned the mission when the Demon Brothers attacked you and your team. Instead you let a pink haired child convince you to walk into a trap."

Kakashi glanced down at the table, his expression soured by humility, and said nothing. Whatever was going through the man's mind must have weighed heavily on his conscience because he looked ready to roll over and die.

". Give us the information, please." Tsunade sounded less then confident and more like she realized that she was doing the same thing based on protocol. As he watched her take a sip of her sake he could see the resigned frown that made his gut twist, _'She expects us both to die here… Damn it Tsunade-Samma! What the hell happened to you?'_

"Zabuza works with the silent killing art but mostly attacks with controlled swings of his big ass sword. He used the water entrapment technique and hidden mist technique as well as crushing wave and water dragon technique. His hearing is top notch and prefers to focus on using in while hiding in the mist to attack his targets."

Kakashi took a breath as his lone eye was solely locked on the sapphire blues of Naruto, "When facing him try and limit his hearing the best you can and use his mist against him. It's your only chance. His associate used some form of an ice technique for transportation leading me to believe he has an ice based elemental bloodline. He uses top notch stealth but other than that he is an unknown and didn't participate in the battle with myself and Zabuza."

'_Does he know about her fear of blood?'_ The boy thought as he gave a nod, "Thank you for the Information Kakashi-san. I hope that you and the others have a safe trip back to Konoha."

Hearing Tsunade say that left him confused as he was no longer sure of who would be facing who in the fight to come. '_How serious was her hemophobia?'_

"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune sounded so tired and looked it too in her sweats and large white t-shirt. Next to her was Ino who looked to have been awake for at least an hour and if the sour expression on her face was anything to go by then she had overheard the conversation at hand.

"good, your both awake." Tsunade said as she gestured for them to take a seat. Ino threw herself down onto the seating pillow roughly as she glared at the blonde boy next to her.

"What are you so worked up about Ino?"He asked as he hoped he hadn't done anything wrong.

She snapped her head to attention as she focused on the little pig in Shizune's hands, "Nothing idiot, just shut up."

Surprised by the sudden aggression he had to wonder if it was her time of the month or not, _'No, she is probably upset with Tsunade-sama and I for having not included them in this conversation…'_

"You said he was suffering from physical trauma as well as the fake death state?" Tsunade asked while pulling Naruto's attention back to the one eyed ninja.

The Jounin nodded his head and sighed, "To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he is waiting at the bridge now… which puts the two of you at a disadvantage from the start."

Tsunade glanced over at the blond boy before asking, "Have you thought up a battle plan?"

Taking a moment to collect himself, with a spoon full of warm soup suspended above the bowl in front of him, he nodded his head, "Yes."

He could practically feel the curious gaze of the people around him as his eye's locked with Tsunade's, _'I am going to be fighting alone at the first sight of blood if the way she avoids looking at Kakashi's bandages is any indication.'_

"Well brat?" She was interested in hearing what he had planned, "What have you got?"

Chuckling as he admired her impatience the blond shook his head, "I have three plans of attack, The first is only available if my opponent or opponents are open to conversation. However this one is a secret and I don't feel like sharing." This drew a growl out of Tsunade as the hazy image of two unreadable words flashed in his minds eye.

He had every one hooked, including the three gennin who had just made their way down the stairs, "Part one revolves around creating, and sneaking onto the battle field, seven clones to create my wind barrier."

Seeing that everyone was still quite he continued, "That will bring it down to taijutsu and kenjutsu for Zabuza and his associate at which point I will call upon my vortex staff, an elemental chakra construct of mine, for offensive and defensive. Finally I will be utilizing my wind barrier, in the off chance that it is one against two, to zip shiruken and kunai in all directions."

The room was quiet as the blonde made to finish his chicken noodle soup. Tsunade had also chosen to finish her meal while he spoke and hadn't bothered to pause when he finished his explanation. Kakashi nodded, "So you intend to beat them to a pulp while their distracted with the shiruken and Kunai flying everywhere."

Giving a nod he waited to swallow the mouth full of noodles before saying, "I can then utilize my skill with the replacement technique to keep myself safe and attack them from whichever angle I so chose. This is also what will remove Zabuza's advantage of hearing and ultimately keep his associate busy long enough to deal with Zabuza."

"That's very nice, complicated, but nice." Kakashi gave an odd eye smile that made the boy beam at having impressed the man. When he looked at Tsunade it was like she was seeing someone else superimposed over him. It made him feel as if he were just a replacement.

Taking another breath he forced himself to smile at her as he continued on, "Option two revolves around the unique abilities of my Vortex staff. First is the ability to separate into batons. The reason for this leads into the reason it's called the vortex staff. This is due to the rotation of wind chakra in the center of each half. One rotates clockwise while the other rotates counter clock wise. Each is made to cut when the chakra is expelled out from the end of each baton."

Noting the doe eyed expressions on everyone around him he smiled, "this is option three, a sneak attack upon engaging in close range combat. Coupled with the fact that I can summon this technique with in a second… you can imagine the effects I can have in battle."

"This is, of course, completely reliant on Tazuna's information on his bridge being correct." Naruto admitted before pushing his bowl aside.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slow he stole a glance at the brooding Uchiha. His face was marred in envy to the point that Naruto felt the boy would attack at any minute, "I think I'll go relax outside until everyone is ready."

'_At least then I won't have to deal with the Uchiha and his ego.'_ He thought as he made his way out of the house.

It didn't help him much as he took a seat on the porch steps. While muffled he could still hear the Uchiha demanding answers to his questions. The sound of a loud crash, that was undoubtedly a result of Tsunade slamming her fist into the small dining table, made him chuckle as he thought, _'I wonder what happened, on second thought, I don't care.'_

Leaning back against the steps and letting a sigh slip comfortably passed his lips he took the moment to enjoy the rising sun to the east. With the low gray and orange clouds he could only guess that today was going to be one of those days.

**Authors Notes:**

** I think i have a pattern starting now. odd numbered chapters, short, even numbered chapters, long. At least that is how it has been going this far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I am sure you will like the next one.**

** In this chapter i was hoping to showcase the a few of Naruto's abilities with raw wind manipulation wile also giving a view of how he thinks. I'm sad that i haven't really been able to work with the relationships between Ino, Shizune, Tonton, and Naruto. Though i have opened Naruto up to some of the many characters that he is known to associate in the Manga and anime and hope to get some of the fundamental ones in soon. ^_^**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4: A Ring of Blood

Chapter four: A Ring of Blood

A thick mist covered the bridge as seven blondes slowly made their way over to the concrete structure. There steps were as silent as possible even as they adhered themselves to the side of the gargantuan construct. It wouldn't be long before they were in position to create the desired wind barrier and so the blonde, watching his fellow's make their way onto the battlefield, smiled as he vanished in a show of smoke.

Closing his eye's Naruto let out a sigh as he held Ino at arm length, "Stop giving me that concerned look Yamanaka, we both know that were going to be fine."

Ino let out a rather un-lady like grunt as she folded her arms over her chest, "You said that already and it hasn't made a bit of difference _Uzumaki_… It's time to go so you had better be careful or I'll kick your ass when we meet up again. Do I make myself clear?"

Through narrowed eye's he nodded in agreement, "Yeah. I read you loud and clear."

She huffing out of annoyance Ino grabbed him before pulling him into a warm hug, _'I can't believe we have become so close in only three months… damn bossy girls…'_ He thought as he returned the gesture before ushering her on the boat.

The sudden pressure of Shizune's gentle hand on his head only made him smile as he watched her help Kakashi onto the boat, "That's everyone. Good luck you two!" Ino yelled out.

No one said anything as they untied the boat and helped the group cast off, _'Be careful guys. You have a long walk ahead of you.'_

"Are you ready brat?" Tsunade, having been standing next to him the entire time, asked as they started to walk towards the bridge Tazuna had been building.

Letting his eye's fall to the ground he felt the stress of the situation bare down on him, "This will be the first real life or death battle; I don't have any other choice but to be ready."

Having said his peace he found it odd as a sense of calm washed over him, _'that's the reality of it all. Do or die as they say.'_ The morbid thought brought a chuckle to his lips as he took note of the vast amounts of orange that still colored the clouds above him, "My clones are already in position and without complication."

Glancing at Tsunade out of the corner of his eye he noticed the surprise that was written on her face as they took their time traveling down the stone path that would lead them to the battlefield, " Has Sarutobi Sensei really trained you that well?"

The question came out sounding full of surprise but he ignored it in favor of glancing down at the multi-colored cobble stones beneath their feet, "Between Asuma-sensei and Jijii I have been forced to adapt to fighting people much stronger than me. It was all I could do to keep myself out of the hospital each week and even then I still spent close to half a year in those damned beds."

'_Because I am the living sacrifice of Konoha, its sword and shield, I have no choice but to be as strong as possible as fast as possible.'_ He thought while folding his hands behind his head, "With my training style it's just what I do."

That drew a chuckle out of Tsunade before they both fell into a spell of silence. It wasn't long before the mist covered bridge came into view and even less time for them to walk into the mist with heavy steps, "You are not Hatake. Perhaps he was more damaged by our last battle then I had initially thought."

The voice had echoed from all around them even as the tall darkened figure and a much shorter one came with in twenty feet of them, "Zabuza, Demon of the bloody mist, My name is Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha."

"I don't care about some wet under the nose Genin, I am interested in your companion. Haku you will deal with the boy."

The man's baritone voice made the blond smile as a roar of wind pushed against him and the mist was suddenly ripped up into the sky. His clones had done their part as the tornado like dome closed itself off thirty five feet in the air.

Now that there vision had been unobstructed and the bridge flash dried Naruto couldn't help the small smile that made its way to his face as he took in the sight of the Demon of the Mist. He wore snow camouflage arm warmers with no shirt, matching pants, black combat boots, and finished it off with the white bandages that covered the bottom half of his face. He held the sword, eight feet in length and three feet wide, in his left hand as his coal black eyes widened in disbelief.

The person next to him was faceless behind her mask as he took in the young woman's curvy frame and jet black hair. She wore red hakama pants and a green top to match that, despite her obvious attempts, showed off just how much of a woman she was.

'_Shikamaru would probably complain about fighting a girl if he were in my shoes now.'_ The off handed thought brought a pleasant smile to his face as he flexed his chakra threw his right hand. The strong swirl of blue and green translucent energy burst to life with the sudden rise and fall of the wind.

"My student has stolen the advantage from you Zabuza, my we end this without a fight or will you chose to die here?" Tsunade sounded as if she were talking to an old friend as she stood across from the Jounin. His eye's narrowed marginally before he laughed with the shake of his head.

Raising his blade the blonde watched as his masked opponent pulled senbon needles from the pouch on her hip.

Zabuza chuckled once more as he broke apart from his companion, "Tsunade of the Sanin… this _will_ be fun."

Tsunade charged the man but before the blonde could move to back his sensei up he was forced to dodge a pair of senbon needles. Jumping to his left he rolled to a standing position as his sapphire eyes locked onto his attacker, "I would rather we didn't fight."

He was being sincere with her as he truly did wish they didn't have to fight but he also knew that he needed to find another edge before Tsunade or Zabuza started bleeding. Taking a deep breath he slowly began moving towards his opponent, "Perhaps we can talk first? If I am to die here, I would at least like to know more about the person that kills me."

She didn't make any move to engage him so he assumed she agreed with him. Pulling his mask down to show his whiskered face he gave her a friendly smile, "I believe Zabuza-san said your name was Haku? Well my name is Uzumaki Naruto. It's a pleasure to meet you despite our… unfortunate circumstances."

'… _Eight minutes before my clones can no longer hold the barrier…'_

Haku began to place herself between the two doing battle and himself as she spoke, with a gentle and soft voice, "I wish we could have meet under different conditions Naruto-san; I thank you for showing respect to my master."

'_She sounds beautiful… I'll have to break that mask and find out… seven minutes…'_

"May I ask why you call him your master? He asked as he pondered the scope if their relationship.

She didn't respond for a full minute but he refused to let his frustration show and was rewarded as she said, "He found me when I was young… I owe him my life."

Nodding his head he couldn't help but smile, _'So he raised her… OK, Its time.'_ He thought as he tensed his muscles, "Thank you for allowing me the chance to understand you Haku-chan. May we begin?"

She didn't hesitate to close the ten feet gap between them, but it was more than enough time for him to split his staff into the twin batons. He was fascinated, as always, by the effortless motions that came with his wind enhanced speed as he batted her senbon filled hand away. Spinning around her with mere inches between them he could feel the subtle way the wind pulled to the girl, _'She is a wind elemental as well… It must be a part of that Ice Release Kakashi was talking about_.'

His eye's picked up on the way her body became stiff with surprise, having been on the receiving end of surprise before he couldn't help himself as he jabbed her in the back. The sudden release of chakra in his staff and the way the wind whined was the only warning this girl would have had before the blades of wind ripped at her red and white clothing. Even as her blood splashed his face, her body arched, and the scream ripped from her throat he could only think, _'six minutes before the barrier falls…'_

As she fell to the ground he didn't bother to check the severity of her wound, he already knew how bad it was, but instead spun down to a knee before pressing his remaining baton to the surface of her mask.

His eye's snapped to focus on the form of Zabuza, rage in his beady black eyes, as he moved closer with each passing second. Tsunade was right behind him trying desperately to close the distance as Naruto called out, "Stop!"

The man froze in place and Tsunade's eyes dilated as they both took in the condition of his hostage. Tsunade, at the sight of the blood pooling around his hostage's paralyzed frame fell to her knees in a fit of terror.

Zabuza was silent, though the boy could clearly see the fear in his eyes, as he tried to make sense of what had happened.

Suddenly several mission reports flashed through the boy's mind as the image of two names became unbearably clear. His heart twisted as he realized what position his plan had placed him in, _Dan and Nawaki… Damn it, she lost them both and now she has to what Zabuza experience something similar…'_

"I will kill you…" it was a dangerous whisper that slipped from beneath Zabuza's bandaged mouth that meant more to Naruto then the man realized. It meant that he, Zabuza, was human on the inside and that the blonde's intuition and hopes had been correct.

"What do you feel when you look at her Zabuza?" He asked as he let a blade of wind slice away the mask, "Is she really just a tool to you?"

The man was shaking in furry as his beady black eyes shifted from him to the girl where they stayed. Naruto's chest twisted in pain as he wondered if he had made the right decision and questioned how he could salvage this situation with his sensei.

"You don't know what you're…"

"…Talking about?" The blonde growled as he narrowed his eyes on the man, "We both know what I'm talking about Zabuza. She's dying so you better answer the question. Is Haku-chan _just_ a tool or do you consider her something else? After all you did raise her."

Zabuza snapped his attention back to the boy in front of him as the blonde thought, '… three minutes…'

"She is…" He was struggling with the words for some cent seconds before letting out a deep and pained sigh, "She is my daughter in more ways than one now tell me; what are you trying to prove?"

With a sad frown he let his gaze travel to that of Tsunade's trembling form, "That you are human. Now let me talk to my sensei and I can guarantee you that she will live."

The man was conflicted only long enough for Haku to cough up blood "Hurry up and save her." He then jumped back from the two blondes.

_'The danger has passed I think._' The blond thought as the baton faded harmlessly from his grasp. Moving with the same speed as when he had made his move against Haku he quickly slid to a kneeling position in front of Tsunade. His chest was pounding harder now as he cupped her face with a gentle hand, "Why the hell are you just sitting here? Do you think this is who Dan and Nawaki believed in and are watching over now?"

Her eyes narrowed as her face began to turn an unhealthy shade of red but before she could say anything the blonde frowned, "It's time to stop morning and start fighting for them. That girl is going to die if you don't do something about it right now. So you need to ask yourself; is letting her die something Dan and Nawaki would want you to do let alone watch?"

As tears swelled in the corner of her eye's and they widened in shock the boy pressed on despite the ache that had spread down his spine and through his chest, "We both know that they would be disappointed if they could see you now so quite mopping and letting your petty fear distract you from what is important and go save Haku's life."

That seemed to have done the trick as she whipped the unshed tears from her eyes and glared at him, "I'm going to beat you raw when this is over brat."

Moving out of her way as she pushed herself to her feet he watched as she ran to the girls side, "You're going to be OK Haku-san."

Naruto could only smile as the wind barrier faded away and his clones stopped existing. The memories of three clones tore it away however as he stood to face the hoard of mercenaries. "Zabuza, compassion is to be human however these men, rapists, thieves, and all around murder loving fiends have none."

Twenty clones popped into existence with their vortex staffs in hand,_ 'They are the source of all this fighting… I'll kill them all._'

A moment later he too was holding his staff in hand. Placing a palm at the end and gripping the center of his staff he focused on the wind chakra with in. feeling the two rotations flowing between the barriers of chakra that separated them he guided the flow of his chakra to widen the unhanded end of his staff as the two forces became one. His staff now looked more similar to a pole armed mace then a staff as he watched the wind chakra swirling with in the far end become a black and gray swirl of energy contained within the translucent blue barrier that made up its shape, _'This will be my weapon as I cut them down.'_

Glancing left and right he realized his clones had mirrored him before he focused on the group ahead of him. In the center he could barely see the short stubby man dressed in an expensive black suit with jewels and a pair of black bottle cap glasses. That was his target; he would use him as a center point for his attack.

With a wind enhanced sprint his clones surrounded the many mercenaries as he himself twisted, ducked, dodged, and weaved his way through the enemy line faster than they could react. He could barely make out the small motion of his targets jaw dropping as he pressed the end of his staff against the man's chest with enough force to pick him up and slam him on his back. Even as the man heaved from the force the blonde leapt up to balance himself on the thin tip of his handle.

It was then, with a mighty surge of chakra, that he, and his clones, released the raw cutting force of his wind vortex. As he was propelled high into the air he watched as the fat man and his mercenaries were nearly instantaneously turned into a fine mist. Where the fat man had been was now a clean slate of concrete as the mist was forced into a large red ring.

His clones had all been destroyed in his own technique and it was only when he fell to the ground in a crouching position that he whispered the name his clones had given the technique, _"_**Ring of the wind god** Successful."

He span in his crouching position to sitting cross legged as he faced his sensei and Zabuza. Naruto paid them no mind though as he thought about the events that had occurred throughout the morning and his eyes landed on Haku.

He had killed one hundred and seventy six people with one attack. Delivered them to death by his own hand and yet there was nothing for him but the calm breeze that now brushed against his bare face, _'I feel bad about what I have done to Haku, yet I feel nothing for these men.'_

Somewhere deep he had to ask himself if he was the same as the scum he had just destroyed? After all he had used Haku to enforce the advantage over Zabuza, _'As long… As long as something good comes out of all this, and Haku makes a full recovery I will never be the same as those creatures.'_

With his momentary lapse in heart dealt with he pushed himself to his feet, _'I should go and apologize.'_

Jumping, for the sake of enjoying himself, over the one foot ring of blood he made his way over to where Zabuza stood. Already he knew what he would say to ease the man out of his shock. The moment he found himself with in ear shot of the man he smiled wide and asked, "Hey Zabuza How's that for the bloody mist?"

Zabuza, once doe eyed, narrowed his gaze for what felt like several minutes before he started to chuckle. A moment after that he began to laugh historically as he shook his head, "Yeah, that about sums it up kid! You would have been a natural!"

Seeing the amusement in the man's beady blacks he chose now as a good time to ask the question that had been bothering him, "SO… Why did you leave your village Zabuza?"

He didn't answer for several minutes until his gaze traveled down to the unconscious form of Haku. There was a pained expression in his eyes as he was clearly remembering worse times then this one, "I left because I didn't like how the current Mizukage was running the village into the ground. I wanted to change thing and make a difference in my people's lives."

As his eyes traveled back to the blonde Naruto nodded back at him, "I see."

It was all that the boy could say for the moment as he glanced up at the morning sky. Most of the orange that had made it so brilliant earlier in the morning was gone leaving rain clouds in its wake. Taking a deep breath he thought to give the man a chance to do exactly that, "You still can make a difference, if you really wanted to, here in wave."

The man scoffed but Naruto shot him a dirty glare, "This place is in ruins, there are rebels in Kiri that need a real home, and if you were to put your effort into it, you can change the lives of everyone here and give Haku the life she deserves."

As Zabuza stood blank faced and unresponsive to what he had said Naruto was just about to say more when the man glanced down at him again, "What are we talking about here kid? Are you really suggesting that I start a shinobi Village here in this fishing country?"

It was exactly what he was suggesting and so he nodded his head as a small smile and a warm bubble formed in his chest, "Yes and if you requested an alliance with Konoha, Hokage-Jijii would gladly open negotiations with you; of course he would be forced to find some way to make a profit while helping you get on your feet. What was it you said, a fishing village, anyways; it's your choice in the end so I think I'll leave it at that."

Tsunade let out a relieved sigh as she stood from her spot next to Haku. Her eyes were soft yet furious at the same time as she gazed at the blonde boy, "That's very inspirational Naruto, and Zabuza, Haku is going to make a full recovery. The brat here hadn't put much power behind his attack so the damages, while life threatening if not treated, were minimal."

Zabuza gave nodded his head in response before picking the girl up, "Are you two going to be staying for a while?"

Naruto glanced up to Tsunade as she folded her arms over her chest in thought. When she glanced down at Naruto he couldn't help but flash a hopeful expression back up at her. She rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, "Why not, the longer I can stay away from Konoha the better."

Closing his eyes as his chest and stomach filled its self with the pleasant warmth of butterflies and excitement he barely managed to whisper a, "Thank you Baa-chan."

**Author's Note:**

**So I started posting the chapters before this one early due to my own excitement for this one. One of the questions that have been asked thus far is: Why only two Genin (I just realized with the help of Kirazin that I have been spelling that wrong haha) on the team.**

**We-ell, **

**Tsunade is a sannin which means she can take on as many apprentices as she wants.**

**Having Shizune with her, despite being classified as a Special Jounin, she takes the place of a third member considering the fact that she was properly apprenticed to Tsunade.**

**Naruto and Ino were, more or less, forced onto Tsunade by Hiruzen as a way for him to pull her out of her depression.**

**I hope that clears that up a bit for some of you! However, for those of you that are up to it I have a challenge for you! Can you guess as to where the next several chapters are headed in the story? Please pm me your answers. I won't out right answer with a yes or a no, but I think it would be fun to see where your imaginations are taking you as you read. ^_^**

**Please read and review! ^_^ (I give a lot of smilies... heh)**


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